Fifa World Cup 2014: Tim Cahill the one true hope for Australia

Inexperienced Socceroos will be banking on prolific midfielder in tough assignment

By Alaric Gomes, Senior Reporter

Published: 13:38 May 18, 2014

Australia will go into this World Cup as one of the underdogs. They are ranked a lowly 59 by Fifa, they have the tough task of facing Spain, Netherlands and Chile in their group, and they are being mentored by a coach who is only a few months into his first major assignment.

However, one man who still can make the Socceroos tick in Brazil is the diminutive Tim Cahill. The hard-tackling attacking midfielder will be playing in his third World Cup and his experience is what is going to matter.

Niño Jose Heredia/Gulf News

At 34, Cahill is no longer at his supreme best, but he has the experience and the skill, much of it gained in nearly a decade and a half in England — mostly with Everton — and with the New York Red Bulls more recently. How vital his presence is to Australia’s fortunes may be gauged from the fact that there is hardly another name that springs to mind than this slightly-built yet tough top goal-scorer for his country.

When Ange Postecoglou was appointed coach in October last year and promised to give a new generation of players their chance, nobody for a second thought Cahill would be among the old guard dispatched into retirement. Two goals in a friendly against Ecuador in London in March made him Australia’s top marksman with 31 goals in 67 appearances. His scoring success is impressive enough for a midfielder, even before the importance of many of those strikes is considered.

Cahill can rely on his past experiences as well. In Australia’s opening match at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, he came on as a second-half substitute and scored twice as the Socceroos stunned Japan 3-1.

His second campaign in 2010 was not as successful as he received a red card against Germany, causing him to miss Australia’s second match against Ghana. He returned with renewed vigour and scored in Australia’s 2-1 win over Croatia.

Given these facts, Cahill remains the only player in the side who could possibly be described as world class and his fierce competitiveness and desire to succeed might prove to be his biggest contribution in an otherwise inexperienced Australian line-up at Brazil 2014.